Defender Choi Seok-hyeon (left) on June 1 celebrates after scoring Korea's third goal against Ecuador in the third minute of the second half in their round of 16 game of the FIFA U-20 World Cup at the stadium Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

By Kim Seon Ah
Photos = Yonhap News

The men's under-20 (U-20) soccer team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Led by head coach Kim Eun-jung, the Korean team on June 1 defeated Ecuador, 3-2, in the tournament's round of 16 at the stadium Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

This marked the team's second straight berth in the quarterfinals following that in the 2019 competition in Poland.

In the same tournament four years ago, Korea edged Ecuador in the semifinals, 1-0, and finished runner-up.

In their latest game, forward Lee Young-jun received a pass from midfielder Bae Joon-ho and scored on a volley in the 11th minute of the first half. Bae doubled the lead just eight minutes later after taking a pass from defender Park Chang-woo, dribbling past his defender and scoring with his right foot.

In the 31st minute of the same half, Park was called for grabbing Ecuadorian midfielder Kendry Paez in the penalty box. Justin Cuero scored on the ensuing penalty kick to cut the lead to one.

But in the third minute of the second half, defender Choi Seok-hyeon headed in a corner kick from the left side by midfielder and team captain Lee Seung-won for the decisive goal.

Thirty-six minutes later, Sebastian Gonzales scored to get Ecuador to within a goal again but Korea held on for the victory.

Korea faces Nigeria in the quarterfinals on June 5 at 2:30 a.m. Korean Standard Time at the same stadium.

"I don't think there will be a next time," head coach Kim said. "We have to get everything right before our game versus Nigeria."

"Because the Nigerian team had one more day of rest than we did, I guess we have to focus on recovering."

This is Korea's sixth quarterfinal appearance in the U-20 World Cup, following berths in 1983, 1991, 2009, 2013 and 2019, when it achieved its best result of runner-up. The 1983 squad finished fourth in the tournament in Mexico. 

The national men's under-20 (U-20) soccer team on June 1 celebrates its 3-2 win over Ecuador at the stadium Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, to advance to the U-20 World Cup quarterfinals.